Rise of a New Dawn
by Hikari Yang
Summary: It has been thousands of years since the Akatsuki roamed the world and the days of the ninja are now over. However, the modern world is in as much chaos as it was back in the ninja days. When the world is dark as night it's not long before the dawn rises once again.
1. Prologue

"Many many years ago, in the land of shinobi, there was a small group of people known as the Akatsuki. Born out of pain, loss, and the search for a better life, this group thrived in the ninja world. It was a beacon of hope for those who were stuck in times of strife and despair for all this group wanted was to bring peace into the world. However as time went past the ideals of the group changed. After brutally losing one of their members to Hanzo, the cruel and oppressive leader of their village, the leader of this group decided that the best way to obtain peace was through shared pain, and he would be the one to show them this pain. He began recruiting outcast from other villages to make his team. 10 people in total. There were some issues with some of the recruits, after all they were missing-nin for a reason, but soon everything was figured out and they started focusing on step one of their main goal, obtaining all of the 9 tailed beasts. However instead of seeing this new version of the Akatsuki as a sign of hope, this world saw them as a dangerous threat. History has forgotten much about what has happened seeing as this was thousands upon thousands of years ago, but slowly the members were killed off by the ninja world and ceased to exist right before what was known as the Fourth Great Shinobi War. While after the war there was peace, those who bonded the villages of the world together through friendship died off, greedy people rose to power, loyalties were broken, and the world was thrown into chaos once again. And to this day, though some may deny it, the world is still in chaos. The ninja villages may have fallen, and those who know the ninja arts of ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu are few and far between, and yet chaos still reins. However, I believe that the eleven of us were meant to change that. We have felt a strong connection with these rings," the boy with bright ginger hair stopped mid-speech to finger the ring on his thumb, "and they have lead us to this place." He once again stopped his speech to gesture around him. The place this group of eleven was standing, while almost completely destroyed, was one of the original Akatsuki hideouts. If one bothered to look long and hard enough, they would find hundreds of puppet remains. The boy with short, burnt red hair shuttered as if cold when he looked around. The boy with ginger hair continued. "I believe that it is our mission to follow in the original Akatsuki's footsteps and once again try to bring peace into the world. The original Akatsuki may be long dead and forgotten by this world, but by learning from their mistakes we will make sure the Akatsuki rises again!" There was a loud cheer from the small crowd, and the ginger smiled happily to himself. 'Watch out evil doers of the world! The Akatsuki is back!'


	2. Fleeting and Eternal

AN: Hey everybody! Look, I really hate starting off with an authors note, I hate having to use them at all, but I have a request for you. This chapter, plus any afterward, have probably had little to no editing. So if you see any incorrect grammar, any spelling errors, awkward parts, or parts that are just plain weak, can you please comment and tell me where they are and what I can do to fix it? I would very much appreciate any help I can get. I hope you all enjoy the story! Until next time. :)

For the reader's (and the author's) convenience:

Deidara- Isaac

Sasori- Vincent

* * *

"Isaac! Vincent! Stop this fighting right now!" The woman yelled as she and two other teachers tried to separate the fighting duo. The blond she was holding lashed out and gripped the red head's hair.

"Not a chance, hm!" Isaac yelled as he pulled harder on Vincent's hair. Vincent yelped and grabbed Isaac's wrist in hopes of alleviating the increasing pain in his scalp. "He keeps insulting my art! He says it's stupid and isn't even art! I've had it with him!"

"That's because it's true, brat! Your 'art' is nothing but trash and that's all it'll ever be!" Vincent shouted as he latched on to the blond's ponytail and yanked hard as he kicked the other boy in the stomach. "When are you going to get it through your thick skull that true art last forever?!" Isaac doubled over clutching his stomach trying to breathe again. He finally straightened up and went to punch Vincent in the face when-

"Enough!" The woman yelled as she and the two other teachers finally separated the boys. "You two better thank your lucky stars I'm kind enough to let you stay here even with all the trouble you cause us! I am well with in my rights to kick the two of you out of my school. Now both of you. In my office. NOW." And with that the woman walked off toward her office, letting out a sigh of relief when she heard the two boys walking behind her, bickering quietly about who's fault it was but not becoming violent. That was the most she could hope for when it came to those two.

When they finally made it to her office she directed the boys to sit in the two chairs in front of her desk. The boys sat down and promptly moved the chairs farther away from each other. She sighed and sat behind her own desk and put her head in her hands, moving light blonde, almost gray, hair out of her face. She stared at the name plate sitting on her desk. Principal Brianna Miller, it read. She lifted her head and observed the two boys sitting in front of her. Isaac was sitting ramrod straight in his chair, looking very uncomfortable and nervous. He would shift every now and then and observe the room, making very sure not to look in the direction of the other boy and not once looking her in the eye. Vincent, on the other hand, looked quite relaxed in his seat. He also looked around the room while making sure to not look in Isaac's direction. Vincent's eyes stopped wondering when he noticed the puppet hanging in the corner of the room. This puppet was a gift from a close friend of her's who was an archeologist working in Japan. He had found this one plus a few dozen others in an old cave out in the wilderness. It was in really bad shape when he found it, but somehow he managed to put it back together. It had no strings, it didn't even have a place for them to be attached, and it had tons of hidden compartments that held weapons and old poisons that scientists are still trying to make sense of. It was thought to be a weapon, but there seems to be no way for it to be used. But that's all beside the point. It's no secret that Vincent had an obsession with these kinds of things. It was his art, as he called it, along with his paintings. Making and playing with puppets was pretty much his entire life outside of school, sometimes even in school. It was as much his life as making sculptures and blowing them up later was Isaac's life. Her thought process was interrupted when Vincent spoke.

"Are we just going to sit here quietly all day or are you going to tell us something?" Startled, Ms. Miller jumped and noticed out of the corner of her eye that Isaac had jumped as well. Vincent looked at her with a smug look on his face. Isaac growled and mumbled something that sounded like 'asshole'.

"What am I going to do with you two..." Ms. Miller sighed as she returned her head to her hands.

"You could let us go without calling our foster mom, hm." Isaac suggested hopefully, putting on the best puppy face he could. Ms. Miller let out a short laugh at the thought.

"Nice try, but no." Isaac pouted, but when he saw Vincent smirking at him, he looked away in a huff, making sure his ponytail almost hit him in his ugly, smug face, nonchalantly flipping the red head off in the process.

"You are such a girl, brat." Vincent said glaring at the other boy.

"Who are you calling a girl?!" Isaac pretty much screeched, tightening his grip on the chair's arm rests.

"You of course, ponytail." Vincent said giving Isaac a holier-than-thou look and crossing his arms. Isaac shot up and slammed his hands on Ms. Miller's desk.

"You give me two seconds and I'll show you just how much of a man I am!" He said as he turned to glare at his enemy.

"I highly doubt you can even prove you are a man." Vincent said as he fixed the younger male with a cool, even stare. Isaac was about to shout something but Ms. Miller had had enough.

"Isaac. Put your butt back in that seat right now, and you," she said pointing a finger at Vincent, "had better watch it. The two of you are walking on some very thin ice, and if you both don't settle down right now I will suspend you for a month. Are we clear?" Isaac slowly returned to sitting in his seat, still glaring daggers at the other boy.

"Yes ma'am, hm." Isaac mumbled, face turning red from anger and slight embarrassment.

"Crystal." Vincent said as he set his apathetic gaze on the principal.

"Good. I'm glad you understand. Before anything else. Vincent, you're turning eighteen in a few months if I'm not mistaken. Don't you think it's time you start acting like it?" Vincent actually had the decency to look somewhat ashamed. Isaac tried to suppress his laughter when he saw Vincent's cheeks turn slightly pink. "And Isaac." He immediately straightened in his seat when he heard Ms. Miller said his name. "I know you are insecure about your looks, but fighting other guys is not the best way to prove yourself a man. If anything it proves you are less of one because you are not strong enough to ignore it." Now it was Isaac's turn to flush in embarrassment, and Vincent didn't even try to hide his laughter. Isaac turned to glare at him as the principal continued talking. "Now, I'm not going to ask what started the fight, I'm sure almost everyone knows why by now. I am, however, going to go over the consequences." Isaac stiffened and gulped. Vincent also looked slightly uncomfortable. "I am aware of the terms your foster mother gave you. If you get suspended for any length of time again she will send the two of you back into the system. So because of that, I'm not even going to consider that option." Both teens visibly relaxed. "Now don't get me wrong, I will be telling her about this. Instead of suspending the two of you and sending you home, as is the norm, I'll let you go back to class, however, for the next couple of weeks you will be in here, spending some quality time with me whenever you have a break. That means, lunch, study hall, free time, and after school until your mother comes to get you. Are we clear?" She eyed the two boys, watching their reactions. Isaac had his head down using his bangs to hide his face to the best of his ability, and Vincent was staring at her with slightly narrowed eyes. He nodded his head.

"Yes ma'am, hm..." Isaac mumbled, finally looking up, face still red and eye's a bit damp. Vincent looked over and opened his mouth as if to say something along the lines of 'baby', but wisely kept his mouth shut.

"Good. Now the both of you, back to class. And I better not see you again until after school." The two boys stood up and quietly shuffled toward the door. They shut the door and it was perfectly quiet before hearing the loud arguments about art starting between the two once again. She would have to remember to give the teachers that worked with these boys on a regular basis a party.

* * *

"I took the two of you in because no one else would and this is the thanks I get!" The woman yelled as the car turned violently. Isaac clung tightly to his seat, eyes shut, waiting for the ride to stop. Vincent sat in the front next to the irate woman, brown eyes wide, with a death grip on the door handle. "I could have just left you there and the two of you would still be jumping from foster home to foster home! I put up with shit that people would be kicking you out for in an instant! I put up with having your creepy ass dolls around the house, and I even gave you a place in the back yard to cause mayhem and destruction and yet I get fighting as thanks!"

"They're not dolls. They're puppets. They're art." Vincent said, bravely breaking the silence. Isaac snorted at him from the back seat.

"I think she's right, hm. They are just creepy ass dolls." Isaac cracked his eyes open and nearly started laughing at the pissed off look on Vincent's face.

"At least my 'dolls' are better than your pile of rubble." Isaac started shouting something about how his art was superior to Vincent's art. The woman driving the car slowly started twitching as the argument escalated.

"KNOCK IT OFF!" The boys snapped their mouths shut and stared at her wide eyed. "We are almost home and I want nothing but quiet until we get there! If I hear so much as a peep out of either of you I will turn this car around and drop your sorry asses off at children services!" Neither of them made a sound. The car quickly settled into a tense, awkward silence with only the sound of the road and the turn signal to break it. Eventually, the car pulled into the driveway of a small, two bedroom house. The woman put her car in park and handed Vincent the house keys. "Get out and get in the house. Leave the keys on the table, and if I hear anything about fights-"

"Yeah whatever." Vincent said opening the door. "We'll see you after work." Isaac got out of the car as well and stood by the door waiting for Vincent.

"You watch it. Behave yourselves and I had better find this house in one piece when I get back!" And with that she backed out of the driveway. Vincent walked up to the door, pushed Isaac out of the way, and unlocked it.

"I really don't like what's-her-face." Isaac said as he followed Vincent into the house. "She has hung the fact she could get rid of us when ever she feels like it since day one, hm."

"I'm not fond of whatever-her-name-is either." Vincent agreed. Neither of them had really bothered to to learn their caretakers name. After being bounced around so much they just didn't see the point. They picked up their bags from where they set them outside and dragged them into the house and threw them in a corner and started working their way to their shared room. Their room was originally the woman's because it was the biggest bedroom but when they came she gave it to them. The entire room was cleanly and evenly split into two sides by duct tape on the floor, and a curtain hanging from the ceiling. Isaac moved quickly to his side of the room and sat at his desk filled with clay and a gunpowder like substance he got from breaking open fireworks. As he started to mix the two things together Vincent went over to his side and sat on the bed with a sigh.

"I think that kick messed it up." He muttered to himself as he lifted his left leg and pulled off a very detailed prosthetic. He tugged at a few strings that connected the main part of the leg to the ankle and the foot. He watched as it roughly moved up and down. He stuck his hand down inside it and pushed on the lever that moved when he shifts his weight, and watch as once again the foot had troubles moving like it should. He scowled and put the leg on his desk next to his bed and took out his tools to fix it. He knew this leg inside and out, after all he made it himself. Before he went into foster care all those years ago he was happily living with his parents. They were all at an amusement park and decided to stay until closing time so as to get the most out of their all day passes. They were all in the car driving home. It was well after midnight. None of them ever saw it coming. Going the completely wrong way on the express way, over 70 mph, was a drunk driver. It was a head on collision he was told. His parents died within seconds. They never had the time to feel pain. The fact that Vincent even survived with only a few scratches and a missing leg was a miracle. Of course he was given a prosthetic by the hospital but it was thin and super unrealistic. The most realistic part being the completely stiff plastic foot. As soon as he got the chance he changed it. It wasn't pretty, but it was more functional. His foster parents weren't happy though. In order to make his custom leg he needed parts. It wasn't his fault that he didn't know that the bracelets and rings he melted for the metal structure were super important. That was the first time he was moved. After a while he was finally able to make the one he had today. The outer shell was carved out of wood while the inner parts were mostly made of metal, while the part his real leg rested on was cushioned and covered in soft, yet cool fabric. He was very proud of his work, it was one of the only prosthetics in the world that could move as if it was real deal after all.

"Oi, brat! You broke my leg!" Vincent yelled as he opened one of the panels. He started looking for the loose wire that's keeping it from working properly.

"You probably broke it on my rock hard abs, hm." Isaac said not even looking up from working the powder into the clay. Vincent finally found the loose wire and started tightening it.

"Girls can't have abs." He stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world as he finished tightening the wire.

"I'm not a girl, hm!" Isaac yelled, dropping the explosive infused clay on the desk. If it had hit any harder there would be a high chance of it exploding.

"Could have fooled me, with that girly high pony tail you have. You know, you would look more like a boy without it and cut your hair shorter." Vincent said as he snapped the panel back in to place and tested the mechanics once again. When he was satisfied he put it back on. He reached over and picked up a pair of scissors and started walking to Isaac's side of the room. Isaac quickly realized what he was doing.

"You stay away from my hair!" Isaac yelled trying to shield his hair with his hands.

"It's for your own good, brat." Vincent said with an evil grin as he tacked Isaac to the ground. They fought on the floor for a few minutes before Vincent finally got the upper hand and locked his legs around Isaac's neck to keep his head still. He reached over and grabbed the scissors he had dropped during their scuffle. He grabbed Isaac's ponytail and Isaac started once again trying to protect his precious hair.

"No stop it! Leave it alone!" Isaac yelled, trying to squirm out of Vincent's grip,

"Get your hands out of the way or you'll lose a finger. Just consider this revenge for nearly hitting me with it earlier." Vincent said as he let go of the ponytail to keep the other boy's hands out of the way, then cut. Isaac froze when his head suddenly felt lighter and his hair tie fell out. Vincent backed away, cleaned up the hair, and went to his side of the room.

"I hope you don't mind if I use this for my next puppet. It's rare that I ever get real human hair." He said waving the bundle at Isaac.

"You-you cut my hair..." Isaac said as he felt his hair for his ponytail.

"I thought that much was obvious."

"You cut my hair!" Isaac yelled standing up. "You cut my hair! I hate you, you bastard!" He reached over to his desk, grabbed a small handful of his explosive clay, and threw it as hard as he could at Vincent. Isaac, however, was never known for his aim. The house shook as the clay exploded upon impact. Both boys stood frozen as they stared at the massive hole that was now in the wall.

* * *

"We are so dead, hm..." Isaac said as he and Vincent slowly approached the hole. Vincent looked closely at the remaining wall.

"It's mostly made of plaster and wood. We can rebuild it."

"But what about paint, hm? I know for sure we don't have any that color."

"We'll have to improvise. Let's start with cleaning out the rubble and hiding it. We should take it out to your bomb range. It shouldn't be noticed there."

"I will take that as a complement, hm." And with that they started tossing piles of rubble out the window to be dragged out back.

"Hey. Look what I found." Isaac said as he pulled a small wooden box out of the broken pieces of wall.

"What was that doing in there..." Vincent said reaching down to examine it closely when suddenly the clock struck 5. "Crap! We don't have the time for this! She will be back in about an hour! Isaac, get your clean clay." It didn't take long to fix the hole. Vincent replaced the studs with the wood he was going to use for his puppets, and Isaac filled the hole with his new clay. They were done in less than half an hour. "Now about that box..." The box itself was rather unimpressive. It was a simple wooden box held together by old rusty nails. Vincent observed the box for a moment before prying it open. After one particularly hard pull the box snapped open and its contents spilled onto the floor.

"Rings? It was just rings? What a waste of time, hm." Isaac said as he looked at the rings in boredom. They were very simple silver rings with a colored stone set in the middle, one being purple and the other teal, and had some sort of Chinese or Japanese symbol in the middle. Isaac picked up the teal ring and observed it before trying to slip it onto one of his fingers. "I wonder why they were in the wall, hm..."

"Someone who didn't want them found of course. Are you really that stupid, brat?" Vincent antagonized as he picked up the purple ring and tried slipping it on his left thumb. It slid on easily.

"I'm not dumb, hm!" Isaac yelled as he tried putting the ring on his other hand. He made it to his right index finger when the ring slipped onto his finger with no resistance. There was a sudden flash and all they could see was a cave, puppets, and a flash of swords and the spray of blood. The scene quickly moved to a field where they were on the edge of a massive explosion. The last thing they saw was a brief glimpse at a piece of black fabric with a bright red cloud sown into it, and purple ringed eyes. They shook themselves out of their vision. "What was that, hm?"

"I have no idea." Vincent said starring at his ring which was glowing slightly. "But it felt really familiar...I don't know why though."

"Hm." Isaac said in agreement.

"Boys! I'm home! Where are my keys?!"

"Shoot!" Vincent said as he grabbed the keys off his desk and started running down stairs.

"Wait, hm!" Vincent stopped and looked back at Isaac. "How are we going to explain this?!" He asked pointing to his hair.

"Not my problem. You figure it out." Vincent said with a smirk and continued down stairs. Isaac's face turned red with anger and he followed behind Vincent. He wasn't looking forward to the lecture that would come from this.

* * *

"Ok, class. In a couple of weeks we will be going to visit the ancient Japanese ruins from the Age of Shinobi we just finished learning about." The teacher said as he handed out permission slips. "We will be visiting the remains of one of the larger villages known as Konoha to see the stone faces that resemble our Mount Rushmore. We will also be visiting The Valley of the End as well as a few other places. We will be there for a few weeks." A student raised their hand. "Yes Summer?"

"How much is this going to cost?" She asked kinda worried yet excited.

"Don't worry about the cost. The entire trip is being paid for by the Matthews family." The class erupted in hurried whispers and growing excitement.

"The Matthews family?! As in one of the most successful families in the entire U.S.?! That Matthews?!"

"Yes that Matthews." The teacher said with a sigh. "Everyone quiet down! Remember to bring this permission slip back by the end of the week and make sure you have passports!" Isaac and Vincent looked at each other. Everything they had learned about the Age of Shinobi sounded so familiar to them, and this field trip might be their ticket to finding out why.


End file.
